Displays such as televisions, computer monitors, displays in portable devices, digital cinema displays, special purpose displays such as virtual reality displays, vehicle simulators, advertising displays, medical imaging displays, stadium displays, and the like are widespread.
A wide range of display technologies are now available. For example, there are plasma displays, LCD displays backlit by a variety of types of light sources such as LEDs of various types, fluorescent lamps or high-intensity incandescent lamps, local-dimming backlit displays; global-dimming backlit displays; reflective displays; CRT-based displays, digital cinema displays, OLED displays etc. A particular display combines display hardware with video signal processing components that receive video signals and drive display hardware to display video content of the video signals.
Different displays may vary significantly with respect to features such as:                the color gamut that can be reproduced by the display;        the maximum brightness achievable;        contrast ratio;        resolution;        acceptable input signal formats;        color depth;        white level;        black level;        white point;        grey steps;        etc.        
The appearance of an image specified by image signals such as digital image data can vary significantly depending on what display the image is displayed on. These differences arise as a result of the combination of: any image processing performed in the display and physical characteristics of the display itself.
The appearance of images displayed on a display is also affected by ambient lighting conditions. Video or other images presented under theater conditions (low ambient lighting) may be perceived by viewers significantly differently than the same video or other images would be perceived when viewed under conditions with significant ambient light. Further, the characteristics (such as the color temperature, direction of incidence etc.) of ambient light can affect a viewer's perception of displayed image content.
The creator of a video production or other image may set tones and colors of pixels in the image with the intention that, when viewed, the image has a desired appearance which agrees with the creator's creative intent. For example, a creator may wish some scenes to have a darker, more oppressive, feel than others. The creator may wish certain features depicted in a scene to stand out or to be less prominent. The creator may wish to have colors seem extra vivid in some scenes and more muted in others. Adjusting tones and colors of pixels in an image may include performing color grading (or ‘color timing’) on the source video data. Color grading may be performed using a hardware/software system that permits a user to change the video data in various ways to achieve a desired appearance.
Because displays can perform very differently, the same image content may appear different when viewed on different displays. Image content that is pleasing to look at when viewed on one display may be less pleasing when viewed on another display having different capabilities. A creator of an image may desire that the image have an appearance, when displayed that matches the creator's creative intent. Image content that matches a creator's creative intent when displayed on some displays may depart from the creator's creative intent in one or more ways when viewed on other displays.
There is a need for effective ways to predict the appearance of images when viewed on specific displays or types of displays.